\n<\/p>\n
O<\/span>n one end of the classroom, high school juniors examined little green sprouts \u2013 future baby carrots, sprigs of romaine lettuce \u2013 poking out of the soil of a drip irrigation system they built a few weeks prior.<\/p>\n On the opposite end of the room, a model of a hydropower plant showed students how the movement of water can stimulate electrical currents. In this class in South Carolina\u2019s Greenville county school district, students primarily learn about one topic: renewable energy.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s an extremely important thing to study, especially now with all the new technology coming,\u201d said 11th-grader Beckett Morrison. In 2023, the school district built this facility, called the Innovation Center, to cycle in different career training programs every few years, based on local business needs.<\/p>\n Even as Donald Trump declares climate change a \u201choax\u201d and cuts funding to fight it, school systems in both blue and red states are adding classes in fields like clean energy and infusing environmental sustainability lessons in construction, culinary and other career pathways, as part of an effort to prepare students for a workplace altered by climate change.<\/p>\n <\/span>Beckett Morrison, an 11th grade student, points out the new growth in a drip irrigation plant bed.<\/span> Photograph: Ariel Gilreath\/The Hechinger Report<\/p>\n The trend comes as industries embrace emerging technology in an effort to remain globally competitive, adjust to environmental changes and reduce costs, state and school leaders said. Even jobs that historically have not been considered environmental careers are adapting to changing industry demands.<\/p>\n There\u2019s another reason schools are adding sustainability focused courses, too: A growing number of young people, many of whom have lived through severe hurricanes, heat waves and other extreme weather events exacerbated by climate change, are worried about the warming planet and seek ways to alleviate it.<\/p>\n \u201cThey want to make sure the world is safe and clean for foreseeable generations,\u201d said Dan Hinderliter, associate director of state policy at Advance CTE, an organization that represents state and school leaders of career and technical education.<\/p>\n On the forefront of this movement is Delaware, a state with plans for all of its middle and high school CTE courses to include environmental lessons in the coming years.<\/p>\n The idea is for students in every industry \u2013 from carpentry to teacher training \u2013 to have some knowledge about sustainability and environmental impact, said Jon Wickert, the state\u2019s director of career and technical education and Stem initiatives.<\/p>\n Business accountants and building managers should consider ways to reduce energy output, which will also lead to reduced costs. Students in carpentry should know the health and environmental impact of dust from wood, plastic and fiberglass, and what happens when those materials pollute waterways, Wickert said.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a company, if our employees are healthy, that\u2019s going to help our bottom line in terms of health insurance costs. We want our students to think in that manner coming out of our high school programs,\u201d Wickert said. \u201cSo when they go to the workforce, they\u2019re able to think bigger and think in ways that are connected.\u201d<\/p>\n Instead of creating career pathways specifically for environmental jobs, the agency decided to add these lessons to existing middle and high school career education courses. For example, the state is integrating lessons on solar panel installation and energy reduction into coursework for electrical career pathways, rather than starting classes specifically on solar panel installation.<\/p>\n <\/span>Students use a model home to see the energy output of different heat sources.<\/span> Photograph: Ariel Gilreath\/The Hechinger Report<\/p>\n The impact of climate change is particularly acute for Delaware, which is the flattest state in the country and sits just above sea level. The state is projected to lose about 10 percent of its land to the ocean by the turn of the century.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery job is a green job,\u201d said Denise Purnell-Cuff, a contractor who worked on the statewide plan with the Delaware department of education. \u201cThere is no disconnecting how we move forward in any area \u2013 there is no separating it from the environment.\u201d<\/p>\n In recent years, clean energy jobs have grown faster than the rest of the US economy. By 2030, two-thirds of all cars sold globally are expected to be electric, and more countries will rely on renewable energy as their main source of energy.<\/p>\n Under the Biden administration, schools were able to access some federal funding their states received from the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to launch climate-friendly and clean energy workforce initiatives. That law spurred progress in states where funding for climate programs is scant, Hinderliter said, but much of that funding was canceled last year by the Trump administration.<\/p>\n Without federal money for these programs, schools now are looking for other sources of funding to create greener CTE programs because of their community\u2019s environmental, or economic, needs.<\/p>\n Last year, the Chicago Teachers Union successfully bargained for several green initiatives in their contract with the school district, including clean energy career pathways for students. In DC Public Schools, leaders are adding sustainability lessons like hydroponic gardening to the district\u2019s agriculture program.<\/p>\n In Cook county, teachers at Buffalo Grove high school north-west of Chicago were looking for ways to add more science courses to the school\u2019s catalog, which led in 2023 to the creation of the school\u2019s sustainability pathway. Since then, enrollment in the academy has grown more than fivefold, to about 80 students, who take classes such as Introduction to Sustainability, Applications of Sustainability and Advanced Placement Environmental Science.<\/p>\n \u201cWe felt like it was important to engage in these conversations with the students and to get them to think about policy,\u201d said Michael McPartlin, a science teacher in the academy. \u201cThey\u2019re going to be the generation that\u2019s shaping what the next steps look like.\u201d<\/p>\n The high school sits in the Buffalo Creek watershed in Illinois. During their second year of classes in the academy, students take a course on Sustainable Aquatics Systems where they get the chance to test the water\u2019s chemistry and learn about their community\u2019s impact on the ecosystem.<\/p>\n Having local jobs that require these kinds of classes bolstered the idea to create the Sustainability Academy, said Angel Johnson, division head of math and science at Buffalo Grove High.<\/p>\n Advance CTE doesn\u2019t keep a database of \u201cgreen\u201d CTE pathways, specifically, but the organization is working with more communities in recent years that want to add sustainability to their programs, Hinderliter said. \u201cWe noticed this trend continuing, particularly, with the last administration\u2019s investments in infrastructure,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n In conservative states where climate change is not a statewide priority, especially amid Trump\u2019s attacks on it, communities are realizing these types of sustainable CTE programs have an economic and workforce benefit that goes beyond helping the environment.<\/p>\n \u201cOhio is a good example of this,\u201d Hinderliter said. \u201cA very red state now has three major metropolitan areas that all have climate literacy plans, climate action plans and are all focusing programs on environmental outcomes both in CTE and in non-CTE programs.\u201d<\/p>\n In Greenville, where automotive and energy plants like BMW and GE Vernova are among the largest industries, students are learning about electric and hybrid vehicles and renewable energy sources. As beneficial as these lessons are for the environment, students are learning about the technology to boost their career options.<\/p>\n \u201cAll manufacturing has a sustainability component,\u201d said Katie Porter, director of the CTE Innovation Center. Officials from those Greenville County industries helped decide which courses the Innovation Center would offer students when it opened three years ago.<\/p>\n Students like Morrison travel from high schools across the county to attend the center and enroll in one of five programs: clean and renewable energy, aerospace technology, automation and robotics, emerging automotive research or networks and cybersecurity.<\/p>\n <\/span>Students harvesting their garden in Delaware.<\/span> Photograph: Courtesy Brandi Henderson<\/p>\n Students in the clean energy classes can take what they\u2019ve learned to study engineering in college, or they can pursue careers as electricians and energy auditors \u2013 jobs that do not necessarily require college degrees. In the center\u2019s automotive classes, students are learning about electric and hybrid vehicles in addition to traditional gas engines.<\/p>\n About 25 high school students are enrolled in this clean energy technology program at the Innovation Center. The three-year program culminates in a project from each senior that reflects what they learned throughout the courses. Last year, a student built a piezoelectric plate \u2013 a tile that looks like a body weight scale, but lights up and generates electricity when stepped on. His proposal was to install them in pedestrian areas downtown to generate small amounts of electricity for the city of Greenville. Throughout the class, students present their work to industry leaders in the community.<\/p>\n Students who take this class have different career goals \u2013 some of them are considering engineering or environmental jobs, others may go into electrician programs at the local community college.<\/p>\n The class has taught Morrison, the high school junior in the program, about energy sources he had never imagined. For his next project, he\u2019s learning about a type of algae that, when exposed to ultrasonic frequencies, releases lipids that can be converted into biofuel.<\/p>\n He\u2019s always cared about protecting the environment, but the energy courses at this school have helped crystallize that issue for him. In learning about clean energy, he\u2019s also learning about solutions, no matter what industry he decides to pursue after he graduates. For Morrison, reducing society\u2019s impact on the environment is as much a part of his career calculations as finding a good job.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s one of the most important things,\u201d Morrison said. \u201cThere\u2019s no way to completely reverse our effects, but renewable energy is something that can help, will help and has helped.\u201d<\/p>\n Kavitha Cardoza contributed reporting.<\/em><\/p>\n Contact staff writer Ariel Gilreath on Signal at arielgilreath.46 or at gilreath@hechingerreport.org.<\/em><\/p>\n This story about green jobs was produced by <\/em>The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for the Hechinger newsletter.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On one end of the classroom, high school juniors examined little green sprouts \u2013 future baby carrots, sprigs of romaine lettuce \u2013 poking out of the soil of a drip irrigation system they built a few weeks prior. On the opposite end of the room, a model of a hydropower plant showed students how the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":44646,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[1449,186,187,496,11414,5122,1896,150,5395,678],"class_list":{"0":"post-44645","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-career","9":"tag-climate","10":"tag-crisis","11":"tag-education","12":"tag-greening","13":"tag-intensifies","14":"tag-learn","15":"tag-news","16":"tag-skills","17":"tag-students"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=44645"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44645\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/44646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=44645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=44645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=44645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}